Automatic stacking devices



July 10, 1956 P. E. MORGAN ET Ax. 2,754,119

AUTOMATIC STACKING DEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet l July 10, 1956 Filed Feb. 18 1953 P. E. MORGAN ETAL AUTOMATIC STACKING DEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors Pau/ Ef Morgan Wil/iam rf. Narr/'son Frederick fl. Prah/ t7?? July l0, 1956 P. E. MORGAN ET AL 2,754,119

` AUTOMATIC STACKING DEVICES Filed Feb. 18, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventors Fcvu/ EI Morgan Wil/iam IZ Narr/bon Frederick A. Hah/ Il?? July 10, 1956 P. E. MORGAN rs1-Al.. 2,754,119

AUTOMATIC STACKING DEVICES 3M K m g if /32 J /f Inventors Pau/ E.' Morgan Wi//l'am rf. Narr/9077 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 18 1953 8 P 0 n ,tno nam adr Qro UNOM.. m: new u.. .0 r um dl rm- 0 m M r 1 y m m. b .nw

July 10, 1956 Filed Feb. 18,

6 Sheets-Sheet 6 fn ven fors 78 Pau/ E Morgan \8Z W//l/'am J. Narr/Son F're der/'ck Prah/ r/? i- 1 /r/' 071776 76 .,f I y United States Patent O i AUTOMATIC STACKING DEVICES Paul E. Morgan, Melrose, Mass., William I. Morrison, Milwaukee, Wis., and Frederick A. Prahl, Jr., Wenham, Mass., assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 18, 1953, Serial No. 337,464 17 Claims. (Cl. 271-79) This invention relates to automatic stacking devices which are particularly adapted for stacking hides and skins, and more particularly to an improvement therein for retaining a hide or skin on a stack support as it is stacked. The invention is herein illustrated as applied to an automatic stacking machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,737,390, granted March 6, 1956, in the names of Paul E. Morgan, Arthur R. Abbott and John J. Maciejowski. It will be understood however, that the invention, in many of its novel and useful aspects, is not limited to use in machines of the particular type herein disclosed.

In the operation of stacking hides and skins of the type wherein the leading portion of the skin is positioned on one side of a stack support and the trailing portion is then draped on the other side of said support, there is an unbalance of weight distribution and due to the slippery surfaces of the workpieces such unbalance will cause them to be improperly positioned on the stack support or fall upon the oor. More particularly in machines of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned patent wherein successive portions of a skin are fed at a predetermined rate from a depending oscillating arm, not only is the above-mentioned problem present, but furthermore, the weight of the leading portion of the skin has a tendency to pull the remainder of the workpiece from the arm so that it is not properly fed out and draped over the horse.

It is an object of this invention to provide novel apparatus for retaining a workpiece in a desired relation to a stack support as it is being deposited thereon by a stacking machine.

For the purposes in view the invention, in one important aspect, provides novel retaining means operating in time relation to the operation of the stacking machine for engaging and holding the initial portion of each workpiece in the desired relation to the stack support as it is being deposited thereon. Machines of the type herein shown are provided with means for conveying a workpiece upward to a point where it enters a depending oscillating arm, means for feeding a workpiece through the arm, and means actuated by the workpiece for causing the arm to oscillate in proper time relationship so that the workpiece is draped over a stack support, namely a horse, with the workpiece extending equally on both sides of said horse. It should also be understood that a workpiece may be deposited by the arm in either direction of oscillation. As herein disclosed, the novel retaining means comprises members which are mounted for oscillating movement in the frame of the stacking machine one on each side of the above-mentioned oscillating arm, the retaining members being hereinafter referred to as spankers, inboard and outboard. Though there are many forms which these spankers might take, it has been found that they should preferably be formed of rigid members having a substantial width in order to avoid any tendency to crease the workpieces retained. It has also been found that when these ymembers are of a substantial width, they have con- Fatented July 10, l1956 siderable air resistance when they are moved. Therefore, slots are provided in said members yto reduce the air resistance, slots being used in preference to other methods of air resistance reduction because no edges are developed which might catch the leather and inadvertently displace it.

It is of great importance that the leading portion of the skin be properly placed upon the horse before the spanker is brought into engagement to retain it thereon. Accordingly, and as herein disclosed, means are provided for controlling the movement of each spanker so as to render it effective at a predetermined time after the oscillating arm has started its motion. In the case of the outboard spanker, adjustable means are provided physically to displace said spanker away from said arm so that as the arm and the spanker oscillate there is a time delay allowing the leading portion of the workpiece to be properly placed on the horse before it is yieldingly retained thereon by the spanker. To the same end a mechanical delay shown herein as a ratchet and pawl arrangement is provided to hold the inboard spanker in a xed position until it is disengaged by said arm after a predetermined delay and yieldingly brought into position to retain the workpiece in its proper relation to the horse.

In the use of the leather stacking machine in operating, for example, upon certain types of workpieces which need not be retained as they are being stacked, it becomes desirable to inactivate the spankers. The present invention, therefore, in accordance with a further feature, provides manually operated means for holding said spankers in convenient locations which are outside of the normal operating range of the oscillating arm.

The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described by reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of one of the operative elements of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of another operative element of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a view taken on section line VI-VI and looking in the direciton of the arrows in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a View taken on section line VII- VII and looking in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. l, a leather stacking machine, indicated generally by the reference character 10, is seen which is substantially the same as that disclosed in the above-mentioned application. This machine is adapted to receive workpieces one at a time from any of a number of possible sources and to place said workpieces upon a horse or other appropriate stack support. The workpieces enter the leather stacking machine 10 at the nip 1l of the upper conveyer belts 12 and the lower conveyer belts 14 which move in the direction indicated. The workpiece is carried upwardly be- Death two stations of detecting lingers 18 and 20 which relay electrical impulses to a time delay circuit enclosed ina box 22. The workpiece continues upward until it reaches the upper pivot roll whose center is indicated'at 24' (Fig. l only) whereupon the workpiece is carried downwardly between two sets of endless tapes through an oscillating arm 26. After a predetermined amount of the workpiece has been fed out of the arm swinging motion is imparted to the oscillating arm 26 through mechanism actuatedby the delay circuit contained within the box 22 in such a mannerv that the workpiece is stacked equally on either side of a horse H. It should be noted that a workpiece may be deposited by the arm 26 in either direction of oscillation. the machine is identical with that disclosed in the abovementioned application and reference may be made thereto for detail-s of construction and operation.

-In accordance with the features of this invention, members are provided for retaining a workpiece on a stack support as it is deposited thereon. Since certain types of hides and skins are of substantial weight and slippery surfaced the imbalance of weight distribution will tend to cause the workpiece to fall to one side or the other (depending on the direction of oscillation of the arm 26) as it is bei-ng deposited. To prevent such mislocation these Work-retaining members are provided which are hereinafter referred to as an inboard spanker 28 and an outboard spanker 100. The inboard spanker 28 is provided for retaining' a workpiece W upon the stack S when said workpiece is deposited by counterclockwise motion of the oscillating arm 26, the termination of such a cycle being seen in Fig. l. The outboard spanker i) is effective in a similar manner to retain workpiece W when said workpiece is deposited upon the stack S' by clockwise motion of the oscillating arm 26, the termination of such a cycle being seen in Fig. 2. It is also of great importance that said spankers do not press a workpiece against the stack or horse before the leading portion has reached its lowermost position. Therefore, the action of the inboard spanker 2S is delayed by means comprising a ratchet 7i), and pawl 74 which holds it in the position shown in Fig. 2 until said pawl is disengaged by an adjustable stop screw S8 which is attached. to the swinging arm 7.6 whereupon the i'nboard` spanker 2S swings in a counterclockwise direction to contact the depending portion of the workpiece W at the proper time relationship in the swinging movement of the arrn 26. The action of the outboard spanker 100 is delayed by physicallyr displacing it, by means of a stop screw 140, away from the discharge end of the swinging arm. 26 so that there is a time delay between the time the leading edge of the workpiece is deposited upon the horse and the time when said workpiece is retained thereon by the outboard spanker l00.

. The inboard spanker, indicated generally by the reference character 28, which is best seen in Figs. 2 and 4, has a three-pronged member 30, preferably constructed of wood to obtain a light mass, which is of a substantial width, the distance X (Fig. 4) being in the range of 24 inches so that the workpiece will not be creased when it is contacted by said spanker. Slots 32 are formed in the member 30 to reduce air resistance when motion is imparted to the inboard spanker 28 and are used in preference to other possible methods of reducing air resistance because this construction affords no shoulders or edges upon which a workpiece might catch. Pads 34 are attached to the lower extremities of the prongs on the member 30 to prevent marking of a workpiece when it is contacted by the inboard spanker 28. The upper edges 36v of the pads 34 are beveled to avoid any shoulders or corners upon which a workpiece might inadvertently catch. The member 30 is attached to two iiat bars 38 which are formed integral with a member 40. The member 40 is shaped to fit an inboard spanker mounting shaft 42 and is secured thereto by four screws 44. The shaft 42 is pivotally mounted in frictionless bearings 46 secured to the left and right-hand side frames 48, 50 respectively. The mounting of the bearings 46 is identical on either side of the machine and therefore a description of the rightbaud structure only will be given with the same reference To this point the operation of characters being used to indicate similar parts for the opposite mounting. A bracket 52 whose function will later be described is mounted by the means associated with the mounting of the frictional bearing 46. Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 6, spacers 54 bear against the outside surface of the frame 50 and are secured thereto by atheaded screws 56 which pass through holes in said frame and are threaded into the bracket 52. The lower end of the bearing 46 (Fig. 6) is secured against the spacers 54 by screws 58 which pass through holes in said spacers and the frame 5i) and are threaded into the bracket 52. The upper end of the bearing 46 is secured to the spacers 54 by screws 66 (Fig. 3) which pass through and secure a bracket 62 (whose function will later be described) in fixed relation and are threaded into the upper ends of the spacers 54. The shaft 42 passes through holes 61, 63 (Fig. 6) formed in the bracket S2 and the frame, respectively, and is mounted in the frictionless bearing 46 in a conventional manner. A torsion spring 64, one end of which is inserted into a hole 66 (Fig. 6) formed in the shaft 42 and the other end of which is inserted into a hole 68 formed in the bracket 52, is provided to impart counterclockwise rotation to the shaft 42 and the inboard spanker 28 in a manner which will be presently described.

The inboard spanker 28 is held in the position shown in Fig. 2 by the following arrangement until it is desired that motion should be imparted thereto. A ratchet 70 (Figs. 2 and 6) is secured to an extension of the shaft 42, which extends beyond the right-hand bearing 46, by a tapered pin 72. The ratchet is engaged by a pawl 74 which is rotatably mounted upon a reduced section 76 of a fixed mounting member 7S being held thereon by a nut 80. A torsion spring 82, one end of which is secured to a pin 84 (Fig. 7) inserted into the mounting members '78, the other end of which is inserted into a hole 86 formed in the pawl 74, is provided to maintain the pawl '74 in engagement with the ratchet 70. Thus, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the inboard spanker 28 cannot move until the pawl 74 is disengaged. This disengagement is accomplished in predetermined time relation to the oscillations of the arm 26 by an adjustable screw 88 which is threaded into a bracket 90 and adj'ustably secured thereto by a lock nut 92. The bracket 90 (Fig. 3) is secured to a transverse shaft 94 by a tapered pin 96. The shaft 94 is integral with the oscillating arm 26 being secured thereto by screws 9S.

When, in the operation of the leather stacking machine l0, a workpiece is to be deposited on a horse H by `counterclockwise movement of the swinging arm 26 (the .beginning of the cycle is shown in Fig. 2), the workpiece is discharged from thel lower end of the arm 26 and counterclockwise motion imparted thereto by means described in the above-mentioned application in proper time relation so that the midpoint of the workpiece will be placed on top of the horse H. After the oscillating arm has moved a predetermined amount (sucient to allow the leading portion of the workpiece to be properly placed) the adjustable screw 88 strikes the upper end of the pawl 74 disengaging it from the ratchet 70 and allowing the inboard spanker 28 to move in a counterclockwise direction under the inuence of the torsion spring 64 in proper time relation yieldingly to retain the lower half of the workpiece W (as seen in Fig. l) against the stack S so that no slippage occurs as the workpiece W is fed out by the oscillating arm 26 at a predetermined rate and the workpiece W is properly located on the stack S.

An outboard spanker, indicated generally by the reference character 100, is provided for retaining a Workpiece in the manner described in the above paragraph when a workpiece is deposited by the oscillating arm with a clockwise motion and is best seen in Figs. 2 and. 5. The outboard spanker has a three-prong member 102 (Fig. 5') preferably made of wood, the lower portion of which has slots 104 formed therein and which is of a substantial width, the distance Y being in the range of 24 inches. The above features are incorporated in the member 102 for the same reasons as were above noted in the description of member 30 of the inboard spanker 28. Likewise, pads are secured to the extremities of the prongs of the member 102, they preferably being made of felt, to prevent marking of the workpiece when it is contacted by said outboard spanker. Similarly, said pads are beveled particularly on their upper edge 108 (Fig. 2) so that there will be no shoulder for the workpiece to catch on. The member 102 is secured to three short bars 110 which in turn are secured to a transverse member 112 which is shown as a piece of angle iron. The member 112 is secured by screws 114 to arms 116 on either side of the machine. The mounting of the right and left-hand arms 116 is the same on either side of the machine and therefore only the right-hand side will be described and the same reference characters will be used to denote similar parts on the left-hand side of the machine. The arms 116 are pivotally mounted upon the mounting member 78. The mounting member 78 has a flange 118 (Fig. 7) formed integral therewith which is held by screws 120 in fixed relationship to the bracket 52 which is mounted in the manner previously explained. The other end of the mounting member 7S extends inwardly passing through the bracket 52 and carries on the diameter 122 one end of the swinging arm 26. A bore 124 is formed in the member 78 concentric with the diameter 122 into which is inserted amounting stud 126 which carries the pivot tape roll 128 (Fig. 3) whose function is more clearly described in the aforementioned application. It should be noted that the means here described for mounting the upper pivot tape roll 128 and the oscillating arm 26 are the only modifications of the machine in the abovementioned application.

Two springs 130 are provided on either side of the machine to impart clockwise movement to the outboard spanker 100, only one is described with the same reference characters being used to identify similar parts. One end of the spring is inserted into a small bracket 132 (Fig. 2) secured to the transverse member 112 and the other end is fastened to a spring screw 134 which is threaded into an angle bracket 136 which in turn is secured by a screw 138 to a bracket 62 which is fastened in a manner previously described. The springs 130 urge the outboard spanker in a clockwise direction and, when the oscillating arm 26 is in an outboard position, said outboard spanker is held in adjustable space relationship away from the end of the oscillating arm by an adjustable stop screw 140 (Fig. 2) which is threaded into a bar 142 and held in adjusted position by a nut 144. The bar 142 is made integeral with a pipe 146 extending transversely across the oscillating arm 26 and is secured thereto by screws 148. The stop screw 140 passes through a hole 149 in the member 102 and bears against a diaphragm 150, preferably of leather, which is secured to the member 102 by four screws 152. Because the outboard spanker 100 is thus physically displaced from the discharge end of the oscillating arm 26 when a workpiece is deposited on the horse by clockwise rotation of said arm, there is a time delay before said workpiece is contacted by the outboard spanker 100 thus allowing the lower half of the workpiece to assume its proper location upon the stack S before being held thereon by said spanker.

It has been found that the force which the spanker may exert in retaining a workpiece against the horse is of a fairly critical value. If too great a force is used, the workpiece will become marked. If too light a force is used, the workpiece will not be properly retained. For that reason the torsion spring 64 is of sufficient length to give substantially uniform pressure as the size of the stack S varies. Likewise the force exerted by the outboard spanker 100 is substantially uniform due to the fact that as said outboard spanker moves in a clockwise direction under the action of the spring 130 the spring length decreases as the elfective lever arm of the said spring increases.

When the oscillating arm 26 moves in a clockwise direction it contacts the inboard spanker 28 and returns it to the position seen in Fig. 2 by means of leaf springs 154 which are secured by screws 158 to a board 146 attached to the oscillating arm 26 (Figs. l and 4). Slotted brackets secured to the board 156 prevent rotational movement of the springs 154. These yielding means are necessary in that during the operation of the machine Vit is at times necessary to collapse the oscillating arm 26 in a further clockwise direction than is shown in Fig. 2 such collapsing motion being limited by a transverse member 162, the function of which is not connected with the present invention. A resilient member 164, preferably of leather, spans the two iat bars 38 of the inboard spanker 28 so that when this collapsing action occurs no damage may be done to the transverse member 162. The resilient member 164 has a second function in that it prevents a workpiece, as it is discharged from the oscillating arm 26, from catching or going on the outside of the member 30.

For inactivating the spanker when operating the machine, for example on work pieces which need not be retained as they are being stacked, there is provided a headed shaft 166 (Fig. 1) which inactivates the inboard spanker 28 and which is slidably mounted in a bracket 168 centrally secured to a transverse bar 170 spanning the side frames 48, 50 and secured thereto by screws 172. When it is desired to inactivate the inside spanker, it is manually raised to the phantom position shown in Fig. l and the headed shaft 166 is likewise manually raised to the position shown in such a manner as to engage the middle pad of the member 30. For inactivating the outboard spanker 100 latches 174 are provided on either side of the machine and pivotally mounted upon reduced sections 176 of the spring screws 134. These latches 174 are held in a convenient position by screws 178 threaded into plates 180, secured to the angle brackets 136. When it is desired to inactivate the outboard spanker 100, it is manually raised so 'that the upwardly extending portion of the transverse member 112 is engaged by the latches 174 in the position shown in Fig. la, thus retaining the spanker 100 in the desired inactive position.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A stacking machine for hides and skins having, in combination, means for depositing vsuccessive work pieces on a stack support, and means operative during but prior to completion of the deposition of a work piece on the stack support for yieldingly retaining the first portion of each work piece in a desired relation to the stack support, said retaining means being actuated by the depositing means.

2. A stacking machine for hides and skins having, in combination, means for depositing a work piece on a stack support, means for yieldingly retaining the first portion of said work piece deposited in a desired relation to the stack support as the remainder is being deposited, and detection means operated by a work piece passing through the stacking machine for actuating said Work depositing means and said retaining means in proper time relation.

3. A stacking machine for hides and skins having, in combination, cyclically operating means for depositing successive work pieces on a stack support, and means operable in each cycle of the machine after said depositing means is actuated but before completion of the deposition of a work piece on the stack support for retaining the leading portion of each work piece in a desired relation to the stack support.

4. A stacking machine for hides and skins having, in combination, a depending oscillating arm for depositing a work piece equally on either side of a horse, a spanker mounted in said machine for oscillatory motion, and yieldable means arranged to cause said spanker to retain the leading portion of a work piece in a desired relation to said horse as the remainder is being stacked on the other side of said horse.

5.v The machine of claim 4 in which the yieldable means are arranged to exert a substantially constant force upon the spanker so that a substantially constant pressure is exerted by said spanker in so retaining work pieces as the size of a stack varies.

6. A stacking machine for hides and skins having, in combination, a depending oscillating arm for depositing a work piece equally on either side of a horse, a spanker mounted in said machine for oscillatory motion, and yieldable means arranged to cause said spanker to retain the leading portion of a work piece in a desired relation to said horse as the remainder is being stacked on the other side of said horse, said spanker being a dat, rigid member having a work engaging surface of a switch of approximately twenty-four inches in order to prevent creasing of a work piece when it is retained by said spanker.

7. The machine described in claim 6 in which, the spanker is further characterized by having one or more slots formed therein to reduce air resistance when the spanker is oscillated.

S. A machine for stacking hides and skins having, in combination, a depending oscillating arm for depositing successive work pieces upon a horse, a spanker mounted for oscillating movement in said machine, yieldable means causing said spanker to bear against said arm, and an adjustable stop screw to position said spanker at a spaced distance away from said arm so that when oscillatory motion is imparted to the arm and spanker there is a time delay which allows the leading portion of the skin to be properly placed in relation to the horse before it is yieldingly held thereon by said spanker.

9. A machine for stacking hides and skins having, in combination, a depending oscillating arm for depositing successive work pieces upon a horse, a spanker mounted for oscillating movement in said machine, yieldable means for causing said spanker to retain the leading portion of a work piece against the horse as the remainder is being stacked onthe other side of said horse, and mechanical means for delaying the action of said spanker until the leading portion of the Work piece has been placed in proper relation to the horse.

10. The machine of claim 9 in which the delaying means are controlled by the oscillating arm.

11. A machine for stacking hides and skins having a depending oscillating arm for depositing a work piece upon a horse in either direction of oscillation, and means for retaining the leading portion of each work piece in a desired relation to the horse as it is being stacked thereon by said arm in either direction of oscillation.

12. A machine for stacking hides and skins having a depending oscillating arm for depositing successive work pieces upon a horse in either direction of oscillation, two spankers mounted for oscillating movement in said machine and arranged for operative action on opposite sides of said arm, and yieldable means for activating one of said span-kers to retain the leading portion of a work piece in a desired relation to the horse as it is being placed thereon when oscillating motion is imparted to the arm in oneV direction, and other yieldable means for causing the other of said spanlters to so retain a work piece when it is deposited by the oscillating arm moving in the opposite direction.

13. The machine of claim 12 in which one of said spankers is physically displaced from said arm a predetermined amount thereby creating a delay in the retaining action of said spanker, allowing the leading portion of the work piece to be properly positioned in relation to the horse.

14. The machine of claim 12 in which the action of one of said spankers is mechanically delayed to allow the leading portion of the work piece to be properly positioned in relation to the horse.

15. The machine of claim l2 in which manually operated means are provided for restraining said spankers in inoperative positions.

1'6. A stacking machine for hides and skins having, in combination, means for depositing successive Work pieces on a stack support of the inverted V type, and means for retaining the initial portion of each work piece in a desired relation to the generally vertical side of the stack support as the remainder of said work piece is being deposited,

17. The machine described in claim 16 wherein the retaining means are yieldable.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,086,353 Dick Feb. 10, 1914 1,211,512 White lan. 9, 1917 1,847,741 Zent Mar. 1, 1932 1,887,023 Hunziker Nov. 8, 1932 2,132,998 Schulz Oct. 11, 193-8 2,154,757 Labombarde Apr. 18, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,060 Great Britain Oct. 29, 1908 

